Renewable energy projects a waste

Marcus Priest’s article “2020 target helps investors see light in renewables” (AFR, January 8) is a perfect demonstration of how we have geared our regulatory system to promote wasteful expenditure. The article estimates that $6 billion of expenditure has been sucked into renewable energy projects since the carbon tax was announced.

These projects deliver electricity at more than twice the cost of conventional sources, diluting the productivity of the investment in the economy generally and in the electricity industry in particular. Without subsidies none of this wasteful green energy expenditure would take place. Nor, now that countries representing only 15 per cent of world greenhouse gas emissions remain party to the Kyoto target, can these costly measures have any effect on global emissions. Irrespective of whether greenhouse gas emissions have any appreciable effect on climate, it is clear that the developing nations have rejected Australia’s green leadership aspirations.

To regenerate the income growth of Australians, governments should reject the lobbying of subsidy-dependent renewable energy businesses and allow the market to provide the cheap energy we have in abundance.